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Paul Ryan Running From The Lord!

Watching the fallout from Paul Ryan’s “Path to Poverty” has been very fun for me. If the Republican Party didn’t foresee the reaction of people to trying to privatize Medicare and handing out vouchers to seniors, they really are in much worse shape than I imagined. And as people learn about the inspiration behind Paul Ryan’s plan, the anti-religion Ayn Rand, it has made Paul Ryan pick up his pace while running away from the fallout. This clip is priceless and to me is a metaphor. Run, Forest, run!

A little background on the problem with Paul Ryan embracing his inspiration, Ayn Rand, so tightly. From Steve Benen…(emphasis mine)

The right-wing House Budget Committee chairman is well known as a Rand acolyte — he demands his staffers read her novels — but what’s less well known is that Ayn Rand was actively hostile to Christianity. The problem was ideological, not theological — Jesus touted principles such as charity and compassion towards the less fortunate, concepts Rand and her followers strongly reject. Randians believe altruism is evil and those in poverty should wait for the hand of the free market to lift them up.

The concept of supply side economics has never fit well with the teachings of Jesus Christ, but somehow the right has glossed over that contradiction with their mindless followers. But Ayn Rand’s ideas are a little bit harder to gloss over and I have to give credit to many Christians who are speaking out. There aren’t enough doing it, but I give a lot of credit to those who are. Bravo!

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I do appreciate Christians calling him out on that particular — agree. As you point out, the truly gobsmacking thing for me is them not understanding / predicting how strong the reaction would be against ending or changing the only safety net seniors have, and just about the only safety net “the richest country on earth” has all together. They could not possibly BE more out of touch with the people — my German family shudders, and frankly thinks USians are nuts.

Haha, I do run into conservatives online who are outraged by Ayn Rand’s atheism and I keep trying to explain to them that atheism is actually much more compatible with conservative beliefs than the teachings of Jesus are….but this is not a comfortable thing to hear for the conservative Christians out there.

And, you know what the really BFD is?.. If it’s indeed true..is that Ayn Rand got government help for her lung cancer at the end..”claiming she couldn’t afford to pay for the treatment so she got it under her husband’s name”..

Snip.. “Woodall’s explanation recalled the hypocrisy of free-market heroine Ayn Rand, whom Rep. Ryan has cited as his political inspiration. In her influential writings, Rand ranted against social programs that enabled the “parasites” among the middle-class and the poor to sap the strength from the admirable rich, but she secretly accepted the benefits of Medicare after she was diagnosed with lung cancer.

A two-pack-a-day smoker, Rand had denied the medical science about the dangers of cigarettes, much as her acolytes today reject the science of global warming. However, when she developed lung cancer, she connived to have Evva Pryor, an employee of Rand’s law firm, arrange Social Security and Medicare benefits for Ann O’Connor, Ayn Rand using her husband’s last name.

Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu writes: “We are supposed to proclaim the God of love, but we have been guilty as Christians of sowing hatred and suspicion; we commend the one whom we call the Prince of Peace, and yet as Christians we have fought more wars than we care to remember. We have claimed to be a fellowship of compassion and caring and sharing, but as Christians we often sanctify sociopolitical systems that belie this, where the rich grow ever richer and the poor grow ever poorer.”

That was hilarious! The Republicans have definitely been splitting into two groups. One is remaining the Christian “family values” type that gets on everyone’s nerves and the other is libertarian, much less religious, really concerned about money, and creepily obsessed with Ayn Rand. :lol: Actually both types get on everyone’s nerves. That must be a hard sell – pretending to be a devoted Christian while also implementing policy based on the philosophy of an atheist… Haha

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